This Gospel reached its final form toward the end of the first century. It is quite different from the other three Gospels, copies of which were probably not available to its writer(s). Although Jewish, this writer is steeped in Greek culture and likes to thinks in terms of polar opposites. Such dualities as light/darkness, truth/falsehood, spirit/flesh, and life/death permeate the text. The author鈥檚 idea of the universe is also dualistic. He conceives of existence as divided into two realms: the world above and the world below. The world below is the world of earth and humanity, of darkness, fleshiness, and sin. The world above is the world of God and heaven, of light, spirit, and holiness.
For this Evangelist, Jesus comes from the world above, has traversed the chasm which separates the world above from the world below, has testified to the truth from above, has been 鈥渓ifted up鈥� [3:14; 8:28; 12:32] in order to return to his home above, offers the chance for those who believe this to become animated by the life of the world above, and, ultimately, to abide in the world above with Jesus. This Gospel鈥檚 icon thus depicts the Son bringing the light of the world above into the darkness of the world below. This theme of the Son descending from heaven and ascending back there is encountered throughout the Gospel. Jesus tells Nicodemus that 鈥渘o one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.鈥� [3:14] He tells Pharisees that 鈥測ou are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.鈥� [8:23] At the Last Supper, he declares, 鈥淚 came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.鈥� [16:28]
As the One from Above, Jesus discloses to the ignorant world below the things of the world above. In particular, he reveals the Father so thoroughly that those who have seen Jesus have seen the Father [14:7]. Through a series of rich metaphors, the writer exalts Jesus as the revealer who makes the Father accessible and is 鈥渢he way, the truth, and the life.鈥� [14:6] Thus, Jesus is the 鈥渂read of life . . . that came down from heaven鈥� [6:35,41]; the 鈥済ate鈥� [10:7, 9]; the 鈥済ood shepherd鈥� [10:11, 14]; the 鈥渓ight of the world鈥� [8:12; 9:5]; 鈥渢he true vine鈥� [15:1, 5]; and 鈥渢he resurrection and the life鈥� [11:25].
Those who believe that Jesus has been sent by the Father are those who are 鈥渂orn from above鈥� [3:3 - a wordplay on being 鈥渂orn again鈥漖. They are born of the water [a baptismal reference] 鈥渁nd the Spirit . . . which blows where it chooses鈥� [3:5, 8]. 鈥淥ut of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water,鈥� by which Jesus refers to the Spirit [7:38-39]. This Spirit is unleashed at Jesus' death, as symbolically shown by the blood and water gushing from Jesus' side, a detail unique to John's Gospel [19:34]. He is the 鈥淟amb of God鈥� [1:29, 35] who dies as the lambs are being sacrificed for Passover.
Believers perceive that Jesus and the Father are 鈥渋n鈥� each other [14:11]. Consequently, the love which the Father has for Jesus comes into believers [17:26]. The Father and the Son [14:23] and the Spirit [14:17] come to dwell in believers. Thus, believers live according to Jesus鈥� only commandment in this Gospel, 鈥淟ove one another鈥� [13:34; 15:12, 17]. This is what John means by eternal life. It is a sharing in the love-relationship between the Father and the Son in the Spirit. It is a love/life which transcends human death. It is a relationship with the Father made possible because the Son came down from above and has returned to his home above 鈥渢o prepare a place鈥� and take believers there [14:3].
The Johannine church was apparently traumatized at some point by the ouster of its Jewish members from the local synagogue community [9:22; 12:42; 16:2]. Angered by this expulsion, the author persistently uses the term 鈥渢he Jews鈥� in the Gospel, despite that fact that almost every character, including Jesus, is Jewish. This routine sarcastically conveys the alienation experienced by Johannine Jewish-Christians who feel deprived of their Jewish heritage by so-called Jews. The factor which precipitated the expulsion was probably what Johannine Jewish-Christians were saying about Jesus. The exalted picture of Jesus as the One from Above was understood in the synagogue as asserting the existence of two Gods: the Father and the Son [10:33]. Such a perceived breach of Jewish monotheism was intolerable to the synagogue and difficult for the Evangelist to defend against in pre-Trinitarian times.
The main christological point in John, then, is that Jesus comes from above and brings the eternal life of the world above; namely, the love between the Father and the Son in the Spirit, to those who believe. Authentic discipleship, therefore, is defined by the bond of love which unites believers [13:35].